Blue Stained Red
by Hikari1993
Summary: This is a story I wrote a while back, but I'd like to get some feedback on it. Fifty years before the events of Red and Blue/Green a young trainer starts off on their own journey from Pallet Town. Hanging over her head is the mystery of what happened to another trainer who disappeared in Victory Road three years before.
1. Chapter 1

[A/N: Like I said in the summery this story was written a while back, but I'd like some feedback on it. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. All reviews are appreciated.]

On the bedroom window of a small house in Pallet Town rain misted over the panes casting a dim eerie light through the bedroom. On the table next to a bed the alarm clock read 5:45am in a bright angry shade of red. From beneath the bed a head appeared with tousled blond hair, freckled cheeks, and red rimmed blue eyes. Camille rolled onto her back to stare up at the ceiling before glancing back at the clock and sitting up. Quietly crawling out of bed and kicking the sheets to the foot of her bed Camille swung her legs to the floor and rubbed her eyes. Today was the day she was supposed to go to Professor Uccello's lab to receive her first Pokemon, but something seemed a little off. She dressed in an orange sweater and white shorts with a black beanie on over her short shaggy blond hair before tiptoeing down the stairs to avoid waking her older sister.

On the table was yesterday's newspaper announcing the suspension in the investigation regarding the disappearance and death of a young female trainer in Victory Road three years earlier. On the cover was a girl who looked like she was in her early twenties with a white and red hat covering most of her face save for a slight smirk.

Locking the door behind her Camille found it strange that there weren't any Pidgey pecking through the dirt for Caterpie nor where the Rattata now infiltrating those empty Pidgey nests for eggs to scavenge. Walking through the damp grass towards Professor Uccello's lab Camille saw a boy with red hair a probably a couple years older than her peering through one of the windows. Nervously walking up to the boy Camille tapped his shoulder and felt him jump under her hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you here to get your first Pokemon too?"

The boy was sixteen years old and lived in the nearby city of Viridian, but didn't exactly have the appeal of a city kid. Lucian didn't bother to even glance in Camille's direction and continued to stare intently into the lab. "You could say that…." From the corner of one hazel eye he glanced at Camille and noticed her hat. "Hey kid, do you think I could borrow your hat for a minute?"

Without thinking Camille reached up to put her hand on her hat to make sure that it was still there. "Why do you need my hat?" Camille's older rather sickly sister Cosette had knitted the beanie for Camille several years before and now that Cosette was paralyzed from her chest downwards Camille cherished anything her sister had made for her.

Cosette, now she would have made a formidable trainer. Her party consisted of a Bellossom (Camille had played with it often when it was still an Oddish), Butterfree, Clefairy, Wigglytuff, Persian, and Rapidash all of which were rather lovely to look at, but in a split second the foe could be asleep, poisoned, burned, bitten or any other number of things.

"Hey kid, are you listening?"

The sound of Lucian's voice brought Camille out of her musing and she blinked at him several times her hand still on her hat. "I guess you could borrow it, but only if you're really careful with it."

Lucian more or less snatched it from her and wrapped it around his fist. Analyzing the window a moment longer Lucian launched his arm forward and punched the pane of glass making a hole just big enough for him to crawl through. Pulling himself up and through the broken window Lucian slunk like a Meowth over to the table where three Pokeballs lay. He simply grabbed the first ball and before crawling back out the window and tossing Camille's hat back at her.

Camille looked absolutely mortified at the state her beanie was now in with its ripped fabric, barely visable splashes of blood, and bits of glass stuck in the thick imported Mareep wool. "Look what you did! You ruined my hat!"

Ignoring Camille's outburst Lucian lazily gave the Pokeball a toss to see what he'd stolen. His lip curled in slight disappointment at the sight of a blue turtle like Pokemon that was a little on the pudgy side. "A Squirtle….that's a little disappointing. Oh, well guess beggars can't be choosers." He caught sight of the horrified look on Camille's face and returned the Squirtle to its Pokeball. "What's your problem, freckles?"

"That's my Squirtle. My brother caught it for me right before he left for Goldenrod City in Johto." Attempting to push back the contempt she was already feeling for the boy for ruining her hat she put her hand out for the Pokeball. "Could I please have it back?"

Looking between the Pokeball in his hand and Camille, Lucian's lips upwards in a tiny smirk before he put the ball in his backpack. "Sure, you can have it back, but let's see if you can catch me first." Turning on his heel Lucian took off at a dead run towards Route 1 and out of Pallet Town.

Camille began to run after Lucian not paying attention to the confused trainers who were emerging from their houses in Viridian City. A school kid, youngster, and lass were bleary eyed as they walked towards their school and had to duck off the road when Lucian and Camille dashed past them.

The youngster glanced down the path they'd come from to see an inconspicuous boy and girl Feeling a little too eager the boy hopped out from behind his friends to block their path. "Hey, if you two want to go to Viridian Forest you have to battle us first!"

The lass cringed upon hearing the youngster's declaration. "Cheyenne, what are you doing? Don't you remember what Teacher Juliane told you about challenging random people on the street?"

The inconspicuous boy smiled kindly at the trio and shrugged his shoulders. "It's alright. We'll battle you. Probably need the practice anyway."

Moments later huddled in a pile on the ground were two Charmander, a Beedrill, a Raticate, two Ekans, three Pikachu, an Oddish, a Weedle, a Pidgey, a Rattata, a Butterfree, a Pidgeot, a Jolteon, a Horsea, and a Rapidash; all of them were fainted. The boy and girl accepted their victory money from the trio and departed Viridian City for Viridian Forest. The hissing of an Arbok and clinking of a Kabutops's scythe like arms could be heard.

Deep in the Rattata, Caterpie, Weedle, and Pidgey infested Viridian Forest, Camille had lost track of Lucian. Normally when Camille would go the forest she would have her older brother Ienzo with her, but now Ienzo was in Johto to do research on some kind of Pokemon called Unown. Stopping under a tree to catch her breath Camille heard the distinct humming buzz of Beedrill above her and looked up to see a hive full of them glaring down at her. "Sorry…." Backing out from under the tree she saw the trunk was covered in Kakuna waiting to evolve into their buzzing, stinging cousins. "Where could he have gone? I mean Viridian Forest isn't that big." The sound of Lucian's laughter bouncing around the forest put the little hairs on the back of Camille's neck up. "Where are you? Give me back my Squirtle right now!"

Her response was a Pidgey swooping down and violently yanking one of the Kakuna off the tree trunk to take it back to its nest as breakfast.

Swallowing hard Camille glanced back in the direction she'd come from, but found that she wasn't able to tell one Kakuna covered tree from the other. "Can't one of them at least be covered in Metapod? At least then it will stick out." She heard someone step on a branch behind her and whirled around to see a tall woman with long lank black hair holding a large sack staring back at her. "Oh, thank goodness someone else is in here. Do you know how to get out of the forest?"

The woman known as Burglar Robin had just sacked the museum in Pewter City and was making out with her loot when a new idea came to her. Reaching into the pack on her back Robin tossed out a Pokeball releasing a purple ball like Pokemon with several holes on it which spewed thick gas; a white oval with two crossed lines were on the bottom of its body. "Koffing, use smokescreen! We can't have any witnesses!" Robin paused to think for a moment longer. "You know what on second thought use sludge on the little brat too!"

Camille fell on her knees coughing hard and lay down on her side curling herself into a ball to try and block the smell. She felt something drip onto her shoulder and looked up to see that a large rather messy looking purple Pokemon had draped itself over her, but it smelt even worse than Robin's Koffing did.

"Muk, use harden again!" A girl with long brown hair in ponytails and the apparent trainer of the Muk was standing next to Camille and her Pokemon. Joining her was a black haired boy who had just a bit of hair that stuck up on the top of his head; a giant Pokemon that looked like a snake made of rocks was beside him.

The boy pointed at Robin instead of her Koffing before giving an order to his Onix. "Onix, use bind on her."

Camille felt a bit of slime from the Muk drip onto her shoulder as she watched the boy's Onix slither towards the burglar before wrapping her in its strong rock body; tightening almost automatically. She heard Robin squeal in pain as the Onix tightened its grip again. "Stop it!" Crawling out from under the girl's Muk, Camille raced up to the boy and pulled on his arm. "Please stop it you're hurting her."

The boy looked down at Camille in confusion. "Why would you want me to stop? She was using her Koffing to hurt you so I'm using my Onix to hurt her." He heard another pained squeak before giving his Onix a quick glance prompting the giant Pokemon to tighten its grip once again.

"I don't think I'll have any more problems from her so please stop it. You could really hurt her!"

Glancing back at Robin and his Onix the boy flicked his wrist giving Onix its queue to drop the burglar who fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Struggling to prop herself up Robin pulled out Koffing's Pokeball and returning it before falling back on down; her chest falling and rising in rapid succession. She saw the boy and the girl walking towards her; her eyes widening upon recognizing them and promptly handed them the bag of loot. "There's been a terrible misunderstanding here I am so sorry. You see I did steal these fossils from the museum in Pewter City, but I got to thinking that I'd done the wrong thing and I was just going to take them back, but I don't think they'd want to see my face." She pushed the bag forwards. "Why don't you two take it back for me and I'll never show my face in Pewter City again."

The boy accepted the bag from Robin before returning his Onix to its own Pokeball. "You make sure of that."

Camille watched Robin scramble away before turning back to the boy and girl. "Thank you for saving me from her. I'm not sure what I did, but next thing I know she sent her Koffing after me."

The girl smiled at Camille and pulled a handkerchief from her jacket pocket to wipe some of her Muk's slime from Camille's cheek. "No worries, kid. Awfully cowardly of that woman to attack a little girl with no Pokemon to defend herself with her. Just curious what are you doing here on your own anyway?"

Feeling her cheeks heat up out of embarrassment Camille pushed some of her messy blond hair from her forehead. "I'm from Pallet Town I was supposed to start my Pokemon journey today. My brother….he's in Johto right now for research and he got a Squirtle for me right before he left and I went to pick it up and there was this boy there. He stole it from me and ran off into the forest so I followed him, but I got lost and now I can't find him and-"

"You're without a Pokemon." The girl finished. She continued to glance over Camille from her boney protruding knees and skinny legs to her flushed cheeks and still slightly slimy face deciding that she wasn't a threat. "You know the two of us both have a full party and just acquired a new Pokemon so maybe you'd like it." She gestured for the boy to come over to her. "George, give her the new Pokemon."

George reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the familiar red and white Pokeball before he handed it to Camille.

Accepting the Pokeball from George, Camille gave it a light toss. A small orange lizard like Pokemon with a flame on the tip of its tail emerged in a flash of red light. "A Charmander, thank you ….um…."

"Kelly and he's George." Kelly gestured at the boy who smiled weakly. "He's a little shy."

Camille returned the Charmander to its Pokeball and was about to start talking to Kelly and George again when she remembered that she still needed to get her Pokedex from Professor Uccello. "I have to go back to Pallet Town now. Do either of you know how to get out of the forest?"

George pointed through a grove of trees that were still covered in Kakuna with the occasional Rattata poking its head out from the grass. "It's a straight shot through those trees."

Waiting until Camille was out of sight George turned back to Kelly. "Kelly, doesn't she remind you of-"

Kelly narrowed her eyes at George which made her resemble her Arbok in a borderline creepy way. "Don't say her name George."


	2. Chapter 2

[A/N: Here's a slightly shorter chapter. Please tell me what you think of it. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo.]

Finally getting out of Viridian Forest and back into Viridian City, Camille ran down the pathway back towards Route 1 (the school boy, youngster, and lass were long gone) to return to Pallet Town. Upon returning to Professor Uccello's lab Camille was about to go in when she heard voices and instead got up on her toes to peer through the window that wasn't broken.

Clio Uccello had been the resident professor in Pallet Town since her Father's sudden death three years before and enjoyed her job for the most part, but there was one aspect of it that she didn't particularly care for. That aspect came in the form of a man named Rufino Serpico. It wasn't that he wasn't handsome and charming (he was) or that he had a powerful team of Pokemon that no one had figured out how to beat (he did), but it was his arrogance, bolster, and generally uncaring behavior about his Pokemon that made him so repulsive towards Clio. In fact at the moment she'd been doing an inventory and found out that she was missing not one, but two Pokemon and a Pokedex. She turned to Rufino who smiled sweetly back at her and rolled her eyes. "Mr. Serpico, not that I don't enjoy your company, but I'm doing something a bit important right now even if it's a bit mundane and I need to concentrate on it. So, if you don't mind could you maybe visit me another time?"

Rufino Serpico was a tall impressive looking man in his mid 40s from Viridian City with dark brown hair that was lightly peppered with grey, a short neatly trimmed mustache and beard, and dark grey eyes. He wore a tailored pinstriped suit with a bright blue and green tie in thick strips; his trench coat was causally draped over the back of a chair while a fedora sat on the desk that was coupled with the chair. "Clio, could you answer this one question of mine? Is it really that terrible of a crime for a man to want to be in the presence of a beautiful woman?" He saw the obvious sneer on Clio's face and procured a strange looking dark purple Pokeball with two lighter purple spots on the top with a white M on it which he offered to the professor. "At least take this as a token of my affection."

Clio's eyes widened when she recognized the strange Pokeball and smacked his hand away. "Keep it for yourself Mr. Serpico. After all you went through the trouble of having it stolen so why don't you just keep it." She felt Rufino take her hand and grimaced as he kissed it.

"Well, I'm afraid that our time together must end. I have an important obligation elsewhere." He picked his trench coat and fedora up the table and chair and put them on before heading for the door. "Clio, I do have one quick question for you." He glanced back to see her glaring back at him. "Have you heard anything from that girl from Lavender Town?"

Clio felt her blood run cold and licked her lips nervously. "I have not heard anything from her in three years. Why do you ask?"

Rufino smiled to himself, but continued to smile at Clio. "No reason. I was just wondering if you'd heard anything." He looked down at the expensive Rolex on his wrist and sighed. "Now, I really must be going." As Rufino left the lab he caught sight of Camille who was crouched behind the door peering up at him. He smirked at the stains that Kelly's Muk had left on her sweater. "Didn't your Mother ever tell you to put on clean clothes before you left the house?"

Camille scowled at him and stood up although she felt a little intimidated. "I like you tie…." Rufino's short barking laugh made Camille shiver.

"You like my tie? Well, aren't you a sweet little thing?" He ruffled Camille's hair affectionately before walking away towards Route 1 and pulled a phone from his coat pocket. Rufino glanced back at Camille who was still staring after him and waved merrily at her before dialing a number.

Watching the man disappear onto Route 1 Camille walked into the lab where she saw Professor Uccello shuffling papers about on her desk. "Professor Uccello, I'm sorry for being late I was here earlier, but something came up and….."

"Don't worry about it." Clio pushed some of her long bright red hair from her face and sighed heavily. "You're here for your Squirtle and Pokedex, right?" Without waiting for an answer she began to sort through her desk again and found the Pokedex, but not the right Pokeball. "That's odd…Camille I think you're Squirtle was one of the Pokemon that was stolen today." She sighed again and began to stuff some of the papers into assorted drawers.

Camille reached into her backpack and showed the Professor the Pokeball. "I know about my Squirtle. I chased the boy who stole it, but I lost him in Viridian Forest."

Clio eyed the Pokeball in Camille's hand and raised a thin red eyebrow. "Where did you get the Pokeball?"

"I got attacked in Viridian Forest by this burglar and these two kids saved me. The girl….Kelly I think was her name gave me a Charmander."

Knowing full well that Camille's Charmander was the other Pokemon in the lab that had been stolen Clio ignored this fact and instead handed the Pokedex over. "Well, it's good to know that there are still people looking out for others in this world. Anyway, can I assume that you know the purpose for me giving you the Pokedex?"

"You want me to travel around Kanto and get information on all the different species of Pokemon, right?"

Clio cleared her throat a bit nervously. "Yes…yes you're right and it would be a good idea for you to challenge all the gyms in Kanto so you can take on the Elite Four challenge. I suggest that you start with the gym in Pewter City, but there's something else too." She looked around the lab to make sure no one else had snuck in and was now listening to their conversation. "Three years ago there was a girl from Lavender Town who came here to get her starter Pokemon and start her journey. She picked a Bulbasaur and I asked her to do the same thing with the Pokedex that you're doing. I heard a couple of rumors that she'd joined Team Rocket, but nothing was ever confirmed until she came to me and said that she had been in Team Rocket. She said she'd quit the group and would resume filling up the Pokedex, but I haven't heard anything since. I'd like you to just keep your ears open for anything about her. The latest rumors I've heard are that she was in Victory Road, but who spends three years in Victory Road?"

Camille vaguely remembered hearing something about a supposedly reformed member of Team Rocket vanishing in Victory Road, but like most of the other citizens of Pallet Town and the surrounding cities she dismissed it. "Do you remember the girl's name?"

"It was-" Clio was cut off by a sharp squeal of surprise from Camille.

Pulling the ruined hat from the pocket of her shorts Camille could put a couple of her fingers through one of the larger holes. "I forgot that I still needed to see if Cosette could fix my hat." Hurriedly putting the Pokeball and Pokedex into her backpack Camille began to rush over to the door when she felt Clio grab the back of her sweater. "I'll keep my eye out for anything Professor Uccello, but I need to go."

Clio reached over for a small paper smack and handed it Camille. "You also forgot the five Pokeballs I was going to give you."

Quickly putting the sack into her backpack Camille rushed out the door only to drop her hat and have to double back to pick it up.

By this time Camille's older sister Cosette had woken up and managed to wrestle herself into a wheelchair. Cosette hadn't expected to see her younger sister again after she'd been informed that Camille would be leaving early the next morning. "Camille, what are you doing back so soon? Don't tell me you're the Kanto Champion already."

Camille's cheeks turned a light pink at hearing her own boasts parroted back at her. "It's a long story. Can you fix my hat?" She pulled the beanie from her pocket and handed it to her sister who inspected it for a minute.

"This is an easy fix. Just give me a couple of minutes." She reached back to the handle of her wheelchair and pulled out her own Pokeballs to release her party. "You can introduce your Squirtle to my Pokemon while I fix your hat."

Camille decided she'd rather not tell Cosette that her Squirtle had been stolen and as she walked back towards the door saw the newspaper about the girl who'd disappeared in Victory Road. "Cosette, do you know anything about that girl in the newspaper?"

Cosette set her knitting needles down on her lap to glance over at the newspaper. "No, only that when she disappeared I was twelve and couldn't be bothered to watch the news or read the papers. Why do you ask?"

Also deciding to leave out Professor Uccello's other request Camille shrugged her shoulders. "Just curious that's all. I'll be outside."

Now, sprawled out in the grass outside her house Camille watched her Charmander play with Cosette's Bellossom, Clefairy, and Wigglytuff while her sister's Butterfree flew about looking for flowers and Rapidash trotted about stopping occasionally to eat a bit of grass. She felt the Persian crawl onto her stomach and began to knead her sweater with its sharp claws. "Watch it will yah. This is the only warm sweater I have." Her response was the Persian meowing loudly followed by a yawn and flexing of its claws before it settled down on Camille's stomach for a nap. Letting her eyes close to block out the bright light from the sun Camille remembered a time three years before when she'd been nine.


	3. Chapter 3

[A/N: Here's another relatively short chapter. Please tell me what you think of it.]

She'd been playing with Cosette's Oddish in front of their house when a girl who looked like she was in her early twenties had asked her with Professor Uccello was around. This girl had a party of six Pokemon with her that consisted of an Eevee, Haunter, Marowak, Electrode, Ninetails, and a Venusaur. As Camille felt Persian began to purr against her stomach it was as if a switch had turned on in her brain. Venusaur was the final form of Bulbasaur and if that girl with the Venusaur was the girl that had gotten the Bulbasaur and joined Team Rocket then she'd been in Pallet Town not long before she'd vanished. In fact that girl's visit had been the reason Camille had wanted to become a Pokemon Trainer in the first place. Sitting up suddenly and knocking the Persian off her stomach Camille raced over Professor Uccello's lab and pulled the door open, but found that the lab was empty.

"Camille, your hat's fixed."

Returning her Charmander to its Pokeball before Cosette saw it Camille walked back to her house to get her hat. "Cosette, are you really sure you're ok with me leaving like this?"

Cosette smiled brightly up at her sister and gestured for her Persian to get in her lap and began stroking its head as it stared reproachfully at Camille. "Don't worry about me. Ienzo will be back before you know it. I won't be alone for too long and Professor Uccello gave me her phone number in case I needed anything."

For some reason Camille had the sinking feeling in her stomach that she wouldn't be seeing her Cosette again and threw her arms around her sister's neck.

Cosette wasn't able to respond to Camille's sudden and unexpected display of affection before she felt her sister release her and saw her dash out of the door.

Route 1 had been easy enough to go through and always seemed to lack trainers. As Camille reentered Viridian City she saw the gym that had the moment had two blond haired blue eyed kids outside its doors. Remembering that Professor Uccello had mentioned starting the gym challenge in Pewter City, Camille wondered why she hadn't said Viridian City after all it was closer. Walking up to the pair who was already outside the gym Camille noticed how similar they looked.

The boy had a Nidorino standing by his feet while the girl had a Nidorina and both of them looked a bit irritated. The boy was the first to notice Camille and turned to her. "Do you know anything about this gym? Like where the leader is?"

Camille got up on her tiptoes to peer through the window into the dark gym. "The gym leaders not here?"

The girl began to pout a bit and put her hands on her hips. "He's never here and he's the only one we still need to challenge."

Lowering herself back onto her feet Camille glanced back at the pair who had started debating on whether or not to stay or go somewhere else to train. Deciding she'd leave them to their arguing Camille began to walk forwards Viridian Forest. She had only been in the forest for a few minutes when she heard a rustling in the grass and hesitantly kicked at it.

From out of the grass patch appeared a small purple and white rat like Pokemon with large front teeth. Pulling her Pokedex from her pocket Camille held it up so that the rat Pokemon would appear on the screen.

The Pokedex had a soft if not nasally electronic sounding voice. "Rattata, the mouse Pokemon. Bites anything when it attacks. Small and very quick, it is a common sight in many places."

Tucking the Pokedex back into her pocket Camille reached into her backpack to pull out the Pokeball that her Charmander was in. "I guess it would be a good idea to catch some more Pokemon so that I have some besides Charmander."

Although Camille's Charmander only knew moves like scratch and growl the battle was a short one. Watching the Rattata disappear into the Pokeball Camille allowed herself a little smile. "I caught my first Pokemon." She giggled at the thought that she was finally getting something done and a kind of hopping dance before returning her Charmander and tucking both Pokeballs into her backpack.

However, the euphoria quickly wore off when Camille realized that she was once again lost in Viridian Forest. Camille hadn't the first time she'd been in the forest just how dark it was and looked up to try and see through the thick canopy of leaves, but only saw green light. Pushing through the thick undergrowth of trees Camille shrieked when a Beedrill flew at her only to be snatched away in the sharp beak of a Pidgeotto. Continuing the forage on instead of going back Camille quickly discovered where the Beedrill had come from when she nearly walked into a hive of them. Stumbling backwards Camille accidently stepped on a Weedle which yelped in pain and promptly stung her in the ankle.

Ducking down onto the ground and covering herself to try and block the Beedrill's attacks Camille saw a large grey dinosaur looking Pokemon with a sharp horn spring over her with its horn poised to skewer the attacking Beedrill. Peering through her arms Camille peeked to see the Pokemon looking down at her when she felt the ground rumbling beneath her. Camille felt something prod her in the stomach as she went off the ground and looked down to see what looked like a three headed mole peering up at her.

"Rhydon, let's finish off those Beedrill use Horn Drill."

Camille rolled off the mole like Pokemon and when she attempted to stand up nearly fell over from the pain in her ankle which had begun to swell. She looked back at whoever was commanding the Rhydon and saw a young man with blue-black hair and dark blue eyes; next to him were two mouse looking Pokemon one was smooth was while the other had a spiked back.

The young man returned his Rhydon to its Pokeball after the Beedrill had been successfully scared away and turned his attention to Camille. "Are you ok, little girl?"

Feeling her cheeks get a light shade of pink Camille nodded her head and struggled to get to her feet. "Thank you for rescuing me, sir." She winced at the pain in her ankle and stumbled again when the man caught her. "Would you happen to know how to get out of the forest? It's funny I was just here not that long ago and I need help to get out again."

"I'll walk you out." He offered Camille his arm which she grasped a bit tightly to keep herself from falling. "What's your name, little girl?"

Camille gripped his shirt to keep herself upright and felt her blush darken. "It's Camille….what's your name?"

The young man thought of perhaps giving her a false name, but thought better of it. "My name's Cesare." He chewed on his lip thoughtfully for a moment. "Can I assume you're on your way to Pewter City to battle the gym leader?"

How had Cesare known that she was going to Pewter City specifically to battle the gym leader? Then again that's what most of the young trainers in Viridian Forest where preparing for. "Yes, I'm planning on battling the gym leader. Do you know anything about him?" She squeaked in surprise as she felt Cesare's arm go under her legs and pick her so that her arms went around his neck.

"I'll tell you about the gym leader after you get your ankle tended to."

A few minutes later Cesare sat Camille down on a bench in Pewter City with her wounded ankle in his lap. "May I see? I know a thing or two about injuries that have been poisoned."

Hesitantly, Camille pulled off her shoe and sock before putting her ankle back in his lap. She whimpered in pain as Cesare applied a bit of pressure to the wound to force the poison out. "It's times like these I wish I had a water Pokemon." He looked around for a moment when he saw an older man who was probably a sailor walking towards the path that led to Mt Moon. "Excuse me sir, would you happen to have a water Pokemon I could borrow for just a moment?"

The sailor walked over and was about to ask why Cesare needed it, but held his tongue when he saw Camille's swollen ankle. "Poor thing, what happened to you? Did a Beedrill get yah?"

"No, I stepped on a Weedle."

The sailor whistled through his teeth and searched through his bag for a moment before producing a Pokeball. "Poliwag should do the trick."

Camille giggled as she felt Poliwag use water gun on her sore ankle prompting both Cesare and the sailor to look at each other in confusion.

"Well, if that's all you two will need I have to get to Vermilion City."

Removing her leg from Cesare's lap Camille sighed and leaned back against the bench. "So, you were going to tell me about the Pewter City gym leader, right?" She saw Cesare look away and pretend he didn't hear her and scowled at him. "Well, if you're not going to tell me I'll figure out how to beat him on my own." Getting up to leave Camille felt Cesare grab her wrist. "I don't need your help. I mean how hard could the first gym leader be?"

"Harder than you think." Cesare waited until he saw Camille turn around to face him.

"What do you mean harder than you think?"

A small smirk came to Cesare's lips. "Just because he's the first gym leader doesn't mean he's a pushover. Cesare watched Camille glance between him and a patch of grass outside Viridian Forest several times and leaned back on the bench. "Are you still sure you don't need my help. Because your party only has a Charmander and a Rattata neither of which have a type advantage over rock types. So, missy you're out of luck at the moment."

Camille stopped walking towards the grass patch and began to walk back towards Cesare. "So, what could you tell me about him?"

Cesare patted the spot on the bench next to him. "Sit with me and I'll tell all."

Sitting down next to Cesare, Camille slouched a bit and put her backpack on her lap. "Are you going to tell me now?"

"You know you're very impatient." Cesare chuckled at the scowl Camille was giving him. "Can't you take a joke?" Noticing that her scowl hadn't wavered Cesare stopped laughing at her. "Ok fine I'll tell you about him. His name is Hector and he specializes in rock types."

Camille continued to scowl at Cesare. "Is that all you have to say?"

Cesare leaned back and put his arm over the back of the bench; his fingers brushing Camille's sweater shoulder ever so slightly. "His party consists of a Geodude, Gravler, Golem, Onix, Rhyhorn, and Kabutops. Now if you had a water or grass type Pokemon you'd have a type advantage, but you don't. You have a fire type and a normal type so if I were you I'd go back into Viridian Forest and train."

Sighing heavily Camille took her hat off for a moment to muss her hair. "I would have had a type advantage, but my Squirtle got stolen."

"Well, that's unfortunate for you." Cesare got up from the bench and began to walk out towards the path that led to Mt. Moon when he heard Camille call out to him.

"Hey, where are you going? Aren't you going to help me train?"

"Sorry sweetie, but you're going to have to do that on your own."

Watching Cesare walk out of sight Camille felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. "Well, I guess I'm on my own."


	4. Chapter 4

[A/N: For those of you who are wondering why the chapters have such odd endings it's because when I initially wrote this story there weren't any chapters and I just wrote the whole thing as one long story. Anyway as always Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. All reviews are appreciated.]

For the next several hours Camille ran through the outskirts of Viridian City on the Pewter City side leveling up her Charmander and Rattata. She reemerged from the forest with flushed cheeks, but was now feeling determined to battle the gym leader. By this time Charmander had learned ember to go along with scratch and growl and Rattata had learned quick attack to join its move set of tail whip and tackle.

Before heading to the gym Camille stopped by the PokeMart to buy a couple of potions just in case.

As Camille made her way over to the gym she saw the Pewter City Museum and caught herself wondering if George and Kelly had returned what Robin had stolen. "They seemed like good people I'm sure they returned whatever it was that the burglar took." As she got closer to the gym she saw both a Bug Catcher and a Hiker leaving the gym looking exhausted. "Did you two have any luck?"

The Bug Catcher glared at Camille and shook his head. "Whatever you do don't challenge him with bug types. You will lose." He made a little sobbing noise and hung his head. "I can't believe my Venomoth couldn't take him down."

The Hiker also sighed and looked a bit dejected. "Don't challenge him with rock types either you won't get anywhere fast. My poor Sandshrew lost so quickly."

Camille watched the Bug Catcher and Hiker walk off together sharing in each other's woes and then turned her attention back to the gym. "So, he's tough even for a first gym leader." She peered down at the little sign outside the gym "Hector, the rock hard Pokemon trainer." Although Camille had neither a bug type nor a rock type she was feeling a bit nervous, but knowing that she probably stood a better chance than both the Bug Catcher and Hiker pushed open the gym doors.

The interior of the Pewter City gym looked like it'd been carved out of a mountain complete with the occasional Geodude bouncing around the floor. She looked around for the gym leader and saw that there were only two boys there. Walking up to a boy with blond hair who looked like he was a Camper. "Excuse me; do you know where the gym leader is?"

The blond haired Camper pointed over to the other boy who seemed oblivious to the fact that he had a challenger.

"Oh, thanks I'll go challenge him-" Camille was about to walk over to the leader (what had his name been? Hector or something like that….) when the Camper stood in front of her. "I said thank you now could you please get out of the way?"

Hector now turned to face Camille and the Camper. "You have to defeat him before you can challenge me." He turned his attention to the Camper. "Don't go easy on her just because she's a girl, Alois."

Alois scoffed under his breath. "I wasn't planning on it anyway. I've got no problem with beating a girl."

From the corner of her eye Camille saw Hector sit down on the floor with his legs crossed and thought it was a bit strange. _Do all the gym leaders just sit down and watch the trainers in their gyms battle other trainers so casually?_ When she looked back at Alois she saw that he'd sent out a pink fairy looking Pokemon that smiled sweetly up at her. "Well, that's just adorable. What are you planning on doing with a fairy?"

Alois sneered at the Camille's comment. "Wouldn't you like to know? Just send out your Pokemon."

Hector got up from his spot on the floor and walked over to Alois. "Remember Alois, you can only send out two Pokemon. So, you might want to pick something a bit stronger than your Clefairy."

Alois glared back at Hector who snickered before returning to his seat towards the back of the gym. "I know that!" The Camper mentally bereted himself since he'd sent out Clefairy instead a stronger Pokemon like Mankey or Geodude. "Aren't you going to send out your Pokemon?"

Camille snickered at Alois and searched through her pack for a moment before pulling out the Pokeball that had her Charmander in it. "I'll use Charmander then if you're ready for this."

The sight of a Charmander made Alois's palms go dry. He'd never liked fire Pokemon ever since his cousin had thought it'd be funny to catch his hair on fire with his Father's Growlithe. "Clefairy use pound!" Alois bit his lip when he saw Charmander dash out of the way sending his Clefairy crashing to the ground.

"Ok, you had your turn. Charmander use ember!"

A couple minutes later Alois's Clefairy lay passed out on the floor.

Alois quickly returned his fainted Clefairy to its Pokeball and hastily sent out his Diglett without thinking. _Ah, dang! Why did I send out Diglett? Why not Geodude or Mankey?_

Camille may not have been a trainer for long, but she knew that Charmander wouldn't be a good opponent for a Diglett so she returned it instead of having it stay in the battle. "Let's see what Rattata can do."

Imminently Alois remembered that his Diglett didn't know dig and instead thought of a move that he hoped would do some damage. "Um…Diglett….use scratch."

Rattata simply jumped out of the way without being prompted.

The battle didn't last too much longer and ended with Diglett being knocked out.

Turning to Hector as Alois returned his Diglett and scrambled away Camille couldn't help but feel that someone was watching her. "So, can I challenge you now?"

Hector had expected for Alois to be defeated, but not this quickly. "I'll battle you if you come over here." Knowing full well that there wasn't space between himself and his challenge Hector had to think quickly about what Pokemon to send out. He had a full party of rock Pokemon, but the regulations that he had to follow as a gym leader said that since he was only the first he could only send out two. "We'll have two battles. If you win I'll give you the Boulder Badge and if I win you better go and train some more." He decided to start with the weaker of the two Pokemon he'd picked out. "Let's see how you fare against a Geodude."

Camille sent out her Charmander since it was slightly stronger then Rattata. _He's only going to send out two Pokemon? This is going to be easy. _

As if he wasn't even worried about the Charmander, Hector didn't even bother to have his Geodude attack. "Geodude, use defense curl."

Camille felt a little insulted that Hector wasn't even bothering to attack her Pokemon. "Charmander, use ember." Much to her surprise the attack didn't do as much as she'd thought. "Why didn't it do that much?"

Hector yawned loudly in boredom. "Didn't anyone ever tell you about moves that lower a Pokemon's stats?" Seeing the confused look on Camille's face Hector thought for a moment about returning his Geodude, suspending the match, and giving this poor stupid kid a lesson on things other than attacking. Instead he decided to give her a condensed version what was usually a long speech. "Ok, so I had my Geodude use defense curl and that made its defense stat go up therefore any attack that you have your Pokemon do will less damage, but I'm assuming that your Charmander knows growl." He saw her nod hesitantly before continuing. "If you have your Charmander use growl then Geodude's attack stat will go down."

"Is there any way I can make Geodude's defense stat go back down or make-"

"Sorry, lessons over. Geodude, use tackle." Since Hector had already seen that Charmander was good at evading attacks he wasn't surprised to see it dodge.

"Charmander let's try ember!" This time it looked the attack did some damage, but both Geodude and Hector were looking rather smug. "You think you're so good just because you're a gym leader?" For some reason Camille was hearing a low buzzing that almost sounded like the cry of an Eevee in her ears that was starting to get on her nerves. "You're not good enough to clean the dirt from my shoes, Mr. First Gym Leader."

Hector was rather taken aback by the rude out of character statement that Camille had just said. "What's your problem kid? You mad because you could lose? Well, you don't have to say things like that. Geodude, use tackle." This time the attack hit Charmander who fell back onto its stomach. This time when Hector looked back at Camille he saw that her face was a pit paler then it usually was and her eyes seemed empty.

The Eevee's cry that Camille was hearing was getting louder and she felt her face heating up. Trying to regain her self control Camille could have sworn that she saw the pure white figure of a girl standing behind Hector. "Who's that girl behind you?"

"What girl? There is no girl. Stop stalling, kid."

"Ok…Charmander use ember again." This time when ember hit it was a critical hit and knocked the Geodude out. Still behind Hector she could see the ghostly looking girl who was now smiling at her. Camille didn't even notice that Hector had sent out his next Pokemon which was called Kabutops.

"Hey kid, aren't you going to attack?"

"…..Charmander use ember again and let's get this finished." Much to her surprise the ember attack did only minimal damage. "Why…why didn't it do more?"

Hector was starting to get a bit worried about Camille. It made since that a trainer would be a little nervous about their first gym match, but to look the way she did with her pale face and empty eyes it wasn't right. "If you would have been paying attention you'd know that Kabutops is a rock-water type so you're Charmander isn't going to be the best opponent."

While keeping her eyes fixed on the girl behind Hector, Camille returned her Charmander and sent out her Rattata.

"Kabutops, use scratch!"

The Rattata wasn't as good at dodging as Charmander and was sent sliding about the gym floor. "Rattata, use quick attack." Although the Rattata's attack did hit it didn't do as much damage as Camille would have hoped.

The battle between Kabutops and Rattata continued in a similar fashion and Camille didn't hesitate to use her potions. About ten minutes later the battle ended in a loss for Hector.

Hector saw the color returning to the girl's cheeks and sighed in relief. "Well, you beat me so to follow in the gym leader's regulation I'll give you the Boulder Badge." Handing her the grey rock looking badge Hector could feel that the girl's hands were still a bit clammy and that dark rings had grown under her eyes. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Hector kept his eye on Camille as he reached for a little platform behind him to get the Boulder Badge. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm completely fine."

Handing over the Boulder Badge, Hector felt Camille's finger brush his hand and shivered at how cold she her skin was. "Well, here's the Boulder Badge. You need any help with directions on where to go from here?"

Camille pulled a little metal case from her the pocket of her shorts and pulled the lid off the reveal eight slots in the shape of eight gym badges. Popping the Boulder Badge into the first slot Camille had to think for a minute. "Do you know how to get to Cerulean City? I heard there's a gym over there."

Hector had met Kalea the gym leader of Cerulean City the previous year and saw her quiet often. "If you want to get to Cerulean City you need to go through Mt Moon. It's right on the other side." As he watched Camille wave good-bye and walk out of the gym Hector got the sneaking suspension that maybe he should call Kalea and tell her that her next challenger would be a twelve year old girl who was a little off."


	5. Chapter 5

[A/N: So, this story is about half way over by this point. Thank you to all who have been reading this fic. As always Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. All reviews are appreciated.]

Walking towards the path that Cesare had taken towards Mt Moon, Camille got to thinking that she needed to get some more Pokemon in her party. Ignoring the couple Bug Catchers, Campers, Picnickers, and Hikers that were around Camille sprinted into a patch of grass where she saw a furry monkey looking Pokemon. "That's so cute." Crouching down to keep the monkey Pokemon from getting startled Camille pulled out her Pokedex to figure out what Pokemon it was. "Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokemon. Extremely quick to anger. It could be docile one moment then thrashing away in the next instant."

The Mankey heard the digital voice of Camille's Pokedex and looked up at her from the berry it had been chewing on.

Grabbing the Pokeball that Charmander was in from her backpack Camille sent out her starting Pokemon to battle the Mankey in hopes of catching it.

The Mankey suddenly lunged at Charmander to scratch it and like the other Pokemon who'd attempted to attack it before it missed. The Mankey got up back up and snarled at Camille.

A couple of scratch and ember attacks later the Mankey the struggling to keep its balance as if it were a bit tipsy. The Mankey soon disappeared in a flash of red light into a Pokeball. As Camille began to walk up towards the Pokemon Center that was right outside of the Mt Moon she felt something jump up behind her and take the hat off her head.

A small light blue Pokemon with spikes on its back and large front teeth was holding Camille's hat in its mouth.

Pulling her Pokedex back out of her bag the digital voice started up again. "Nidoran , the poison pin Pokemon. Although small, its venomous barbs render this Pokemon dangerous. The female have smaller horns."

The Nidoran smiled cheekily up at Camille while still clutching her hat in its mouth.

"Fine you want to play this game I'll play this game." Reaching into her bag Camille sent her Rattata out. From the corner of her eye Camille though she saw a flash of red hair disappear into Mt Moon.

Like with the battle against the Mankey the battle against the Nidoran went quickly and its capture brought Camille's party up to four Pokemon.

Taking advantage of the Pokemon Center at the entrance to Mt Moon, Camille peered into the cave a bit nervously remembering how bad she was with directions. "How exactly am I going to get to Cerulean City through a cave that I've never been in if I couldn't get to Pewter City by going through a forest that I've lived near for years."

"In need of some assistance are we?"

Camille jumped when she heard the voice behind her and looked back to see Cesare standing not far from the Pokemon Center. "What are you doing here, Cesare? I thought you'd be….well I didn't know what you'd be doing, but I didn't expect to see you."

Cesare sauntered over to Camille to look into the cave with her. "I remembered that after you beat Hector that you'd have to go through here to get to Cerulean City so I thought I'd wait for you provide assistance as needed."

Camille blushed a little and thought about turning him away, but at the same time didn't like the idea of getting lost in Mt Moon with all those Zubat. "I think I should take you up on the offer." Watching Cesare go into the opening of the cave first Camille found herself stiff as a board with her hands clenched at her sides.

Noticing that Camille hadn't followed him Cesare stopped walking to look back at her. "Need to hold my hand, kid?" He hadn't actually expected for Camille to latch on his hand which she did, but it felt less like she was holding his hand and more like she was trying to break his fingers. "What, you scared of Zubat or something?"

Camille tightened her grip on Cesare's hand so much that it felt more like a Kingler was pinching his hand. "I hate Zubat. They're disgusting and all they do is fly around with their mouths open." The sound of a Zubat flapping its wings sent Camille into a panic and she was soon holding onto Cesare's whole arm.

Cesare winced as he attempted to free his arm from Camille's grip, but found that she'd only tighten it. "Zubat aren't a big deal. Just think of them as training fodder. I'd be more worried about running into a Machop in here. Or if you're lucky you'll meet a Clefairy. Speaking of other Pokemon have you caught anymore besides your Charmander and Rattata?" Since Cesare had been watching Camille since she'd left Pewter City he already knew which Pokemon she'd caught, but why not play dumb?

Loosening her grip on his arm Camille nodded. "I caught a Mankey and a Nidoran , but that's it."

"You still have space for two more in your party. Ever think about which ones you plan on catching?"

Camille was about to answer when she saw two people who looked oddly familiar blocking their path. "Kelly and…..George I think….What are you two doing in Mt Moon?" There was something different about their clothes too.

Instead of the jacket and jeans that she'd been wearing before Kelly was wearing a tight short white skirt, a long sleeved white top, black gloves that went up to her elbows, and a pair of black boots with just a slight heel on them. On her top there was a large bright red R. George wore a similar outfit, but instead of a skirt he wore pants and his boots lacked a heel. Also on his shirt was the same large bright red R. Kelly looked down at Cesare and smirked at him as if there was a secret between them. "Weren't you ever told not to but in where you weren't supposed to be?"

Camille let go of Cesare's arm and was feeling a bit confused since the last time she'd George and Kelly they'd rescued her and now they looked like they were ready to attack. "I'm just trying to get to Cerulean City I'm not trying to get in your-"

"You remind me of her." George's face had a slight green tinge to it. "Why don't you just go away!" Reaching for a Pokeball George sent out a Pokemon that looked like a large grey dragon with a big jaw and sharp teeth. "Aerodactyl, use bite!" George knew full well that Aerodactyl's preferred why of killing its victims were with a sharp bite from its razor like teeth.

Kelly looked like she could slap George. "What are you doing? Call it off!" She saw George shake his head and took him by the shoulders to shake him. "Remember what the boss said? No blood is supposed to be spilt."

Before Camille could figure out was going on she felt an arm wrap around her waist and haul her off the ground. Seeing Cesare, George, and Kelly vanish into the distance she looked up to see who had grabbed her and to her surprise saw Lucian. "What do you think you're doing? Let go of me!"

Lucian didn't look it, but he was a very fast runner and was quickly approaching the exit of Mt Moon. "Why would I do that? So you could fawn over that traitor some more?"

"Traitor? Who are you talking about?"

Approaching the exit and letting of Camille's waist Lucian took a minute to catch his breath. "You shouldn't trust that Cesare guy. He's bad news."

"How do you know? Besides why do you even care?" Camille felt her face heating up now in anger instead of embarrassment. "Why is that every time you see me you always steal from me?"

Lucian smirked at how flustered Camille was getting and pulled the backpack off his back. "This is only the second time we've met, kid." He pulled a Pokeball from his backpack. "As a thank you for saving you back there I'm expecting something."

"Really? What do you want from me now?"

"Just a battle." Throwing the Pokeball in Camille's direction Lucian revealed that he also had a Rattata. He saw Camille hesitate on reaching for a Pokeball herself. "Why are you just standing there? Battle me!"

Camille easily dispatched the Rattata with her Charmander and was soon facing a Nidoran that Lucian had caught. His almost seemed to have a nastier temper then the one she'd caught. Returning Charmander, Mankey soon took its place. The similarity between in their parties stopped after this and Lucian sent out a small bird like Pokemon. Pulling the Pokedex from her bag Camille heard the Eevee cry again as the Pokedex began to speak.

"Spearow, the tiny bird Pokemon. Eats bugs in grassy areas. It has to flap its short wings at high speeds to stay air born."

Having not seen a Spearow in the wild yet Camille wondered where the red haired boy had gotten his. "Return Mankey. Let's see what my Nidoran can do. Nidoran , use scratch." Luckily for Camille the scratch attack made contact although she was starting to wish that she'd bothered to catch a Pikachu in Viridian Forest.

The next Pokemon Lucian sent out looked very similar to Nidoran , but instead of being light blue it was purple. "Nidoran , use double kick."

Unfortunately for Nidoran her male counterpart was very quick and didn't give her the chance to dodge. After a few more hits Camille was forced to return her Nidoran and sent Charmander back out. Charmander did the trick for defeating Nidoran .

Lucian had thought that Camille would be a pushover since he'd stolen the Squirtle from her with such ease and was growing angry that he'd been proven wrong. "Fine, you want to play like this I'll play with you, brat." Reaching for his next to the last Pokeball Lucian hoped would throw the over confident blond for a loop. "Come on Squirtle let's show this brat how much stronger you've gotten." Just like he'd expected Camille's face turned a bit green. "Ok, Squirtle now use water gun."

Charmander was thrown off by Squirtle's attack and was knocked out by the powerful stream of water.

Quickly returning her fainted Charmander to its Pokeball Camille had to think fast on who would be a good opponent for the Pokemon that was supposed to be hers. "Let's go Mankey use low kick!" The kicking attack hit Squirtle the impact of the pig monkey Pokemon's foot against the tiny turtle's head made a horrible cracking sound that made Camille wince.

Squirtle tottered on its feet for a moment before falling flat on its face in a dead faint.

This time it was Lucian's turn to look sick since he knew that the last Pokemon in his party couldn't do any attacks. Returning the Squirtle to its Pokeball Lucian looked embarrassed as he sent out his last Pokemon. "Let's see if you can do anything Abra."

Camille had never seen an Abra either and pulled her Pokedex back out.

"Abra, the Psi Pokemon. Using its ability to read minds, it will sense impending danger and teleport to safety."

Knowing that Abra was a psychic Pokemon Camille assumed it would be weak against fighting types so she kept her Mankey out. "Mankey, use low kick again."

The Abra rolled backwards for a moment, but used its tail to push its back up again as Lucian frantically searched through his bag for a potion.

"Let's get this battle done Mankey use low kick again."

This time the Abra rocked backwards again, but fell flat on its back.

Watching Lucian return his Abra, Camille found herself wondering what this strange boy's name was since she wanted to know what to call him if they met up again. "Now that I've beaten you would you mind tell me your name?"

Lucian thought about just leaving Mt Moon instead of answering Camille, but he was getting the feeling that this kid would chase after him. "My name's Lucian."

"Well Lucian, my name is Camille so next time you see me don't call me kid or brat call me Camille."

Now that he thought about it the more Lucian looked at Camille the more he realized that he wasn't sure if Camille was a boy or a girl. Although she was only twelve and lacked the curves of a woman or the broad shoulders of a man it seemed like there should still be subtle cues to tell if she was a boy or a girl. _Damn, the brat even has one of those unisex names._ "Sure…next time I see you again I'll call you Camille not brat or kid."

Camille thought about offering her hand to Lucian in friendship, but thought better of it when she realized that he was looking her up and down. "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing…why would I stare at you?" He walked out towards the exit of Mt Moon. "Why don't you go challenge Kalea now I have more important things to do then babysit you."

Camille followed Lucian out of Mt Moon and thought about looking for a rock to throw at him, but by the time she found one that was acceptable he was already gone. _What's that guy's problem? All he does is pick on me and call me names. I don't remember doing anything to him._ Walking down the path towards Cerulean City, Camille saw a long gold bridge lined with trainers with someone waiting at the end. "I guess I should go train on that bridge, but first I need to go find the Pokemon Center."


	6. Chapter 6

[A/N: I remember having trouble with this chapter, but obviously I was able to work through it. Without further ado please enjoy chapter 6. All reviews are appreciated.]

The Pokemon Center proved to be a quick stop just like before and Camille stocked up on potions again before heading out towards the gold bridge.

Walking up onto the bridge Camille saw that five trainers were on the bridge and the first one was a very pretty girl with long black hair wearing a frilly black and white dress. "Wow, you are such a pretty girl! Are you here to battle Pokemon too?"

The _girl_ curled _her_ lip into a sneer. "I'm not a girl. I'm a boy." The boy pulled a Pokeball from a little bag around his wrist. "I'm the first challenger on the Nugget Bridge. If you beat all five of us you'll get a prize at the end. Now let's see how you handle my Ponyta."

Like before Camille pulled out her Pokedex to hear something about the Ponyta.

"Ponyta, the fire horse Pokemon. Its hooves are 10 times harder then diamonds. It can trample anything completely flat in moments."

Once again Camille found herself wishing that she had managed to get her Squirtle to have a type advantage over her opponent. "I think my Mankey can handle your Ponyta."

When Mankey appeared from its Pokeball it looked quiet irritated with having being roused from a nap. It growled at the Ponyta and bared its claws causing the Ponyta to back away stamping its hooves nervously. The Mankey snarled at the Ponyta when it heard Camille give the order to use low kick. Thanks to Mankey's savage personality the attractive boy's Ponyta was defeated and soon afterward his Clefable was also defeated.

Camille was able to get through the next four trainers easily when she saw a short blond boy standing at the far end of the Nugget Bridge. Camille felt a little unnerved when she saw the Ekans slithering about on the boy's feet. "So, I defeated those five trainers so don't I get some kind of prize?"

The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small chunk of gold which he handed to Camille. "I thought you'd be able to figure it out that since it's called the Nugget Bridge you'd get a nugget as a prize. You can't do anything with it, but you can sell it at the PokeMart and get a lot of money for it." He looked around to make sure no one was listening before leaning a bit closer to Camille. "Hey, you ever think about joining Team Rocket?"

"What are you talking about?"

From behind the boy came a girl with long dark red hair in a ponytail wearing a similar outfit only instead of pants she wore a skirt. "Nelson, come back to headquarters now. If the boss knew what you were doing out here. Goofing off in Cerulean City and giving away gold." She seized his arm and began to pull him away.

"Wait Georgina, I need my Ekans."

"Well, go get it."

The boy known as Nelson stumbled back to get his Ekans which tried to slither out of his arms and when he tightened his grip on it the Ekans stuck its tongue in the boy's ear prompting a yelp.

Camille watched Nelson and the girl walk back over the Nugget Bridge before following them. _Let's see now Kalea is the gym leader here and I remember hearing somewhere that she uses water types so once again I'm don't have a type advantage. Better train some more before I battle her. _

Running around in the patch of grass outside Mt Moon, Camille didn't catch anymore Pokemon, but got her Pokemon stronger. As she trained her Charmander the Pokemon suddenly stopped walking next to her and began to glow. "What's the matter Charmander?"

The Charmander began to grow taller, its bright red skin became a darker red, its claws grew thicker and longer, and a horn grew from its head. It was no longer a Charmander, but a Charmeleon.

Pulling out her Pokedex Camille flipped it open. "Charmeleon, the flame Pokemon. When it swings its burning tail, it elevates the temperature to unbearably high levels."

Camille saw Charmeleon walk over to her with a bit of a wobble unaccustomed to its longer bulkier legs. "You certainly look a lot stronger then when you were a Charmander. So, Charmeleon do you think we're ready to go take on Kalea?"

Charmeleon growled in anticipation and began to pull on the bottom of Camille's sweater to pull her over to the gym.

"I was kidding Charmeleon. I need to still train everybody else."

Taking another couple of hours to train Rattata, Nidoran , and Mankey and two more of her Pokemon evolved. Rattata was no longer small, purple, and white, but a bit bigger with rough brown fur and a long bald tail. Nidoran had grown larger with a more pronounced face, bigger body, barbs protruding from its back, and larger fangs.

"Raticate, the mouse Pokemon. It uses its whiskers to maintain its balance and will slow down if they are cut off. Nidorina, the poison pin Pokemon. The female's horn develops slowly. Prefers physical attacks such as clawing and biting."

Camille returned her party to their Pokeballs and began walking towards the Cerulean City gym when she heard the odd buzzing Eevee cry in her head again. _I know there aren't any Eevee around here so why do I keep hearing their cry?_ Like with the Pewter City gym she leaned down to read the sign outside the gym. "Kalea, the elegant water Pokemon trainer."

Like the Pewter City gym the Cerulean City gym floor plan had a theme to it. This time it was built like an indoor pool. In the pool was a girl with long black hair held back in a pink ribbon wearing a pale pink bikini. "Hey, are you the trainer that I'm supposed to battle before I can battle Kalea?"

The girl bobbed down under the water and swam towards the edge of the pool before pulling herself up; her damp hair stuck to her cheeks. "That's right. If you want to battle Kalea then you have to defeat me first."

"Are you going to get out of the pool so we can battle?"

The girl bobbed down so that she was completely submerged before popping up again. "I think I'll stay in the pool a bit longer. It's nice and warm in here."

Kalea had been sitting on a beach chair towards the back of the gym with a small white seal with a slobbering tongue lounging next to her. "Get out of the pool and battle the kid, Zhenya."

Zhenya grumbled under her breath as she pulled herself from the pool and reached for a towel to wrap around her hips. "Ok, so I'm assuming since that you're here that you've already defeated Hector so you know that I'm only allowed to use two Pokemon to battle you."

Camille nodded her head as she heard the Eevee cry out. "I know. Can we just battle so I can get the Cascade Badge sooner rather than later."

Zhenya felt like slapping the back of Camille's head at hearing her comment. "Well, kid you should cool your jets because after me you still have to beat Kalea before you can get the badge. Now let's see if you can battle a Pikachu!"

Keeping up with Professor Uccello's request to fill up the Pokedex Camille pulled it out and put it up so that Pikachu would appear on the screen.

"Pikachu, the mouse Pokemon. When several of these Pokemon gather, their electricity could build and cause lightening storms."

Putting the Pokedex away and pulling out a Pokeball Camille was feeling confident that she could defeat an electric mouse. "Let's see how well your Pikachu can do against my Nidorina." Camille heard Zhenya order her Pikachu to use quick attack and although the attack did make contact with Nidorina the Pikachu was wobbling about and looked very dizzy. "What's wrong with your Pikachu?"

Zhenya was looking frustrated by what ever had just happened since she wasn't prepared to fight against poison types. "Your Nidorina's special ability is called poison point. If a Pokemon makes physical contact with it then they could get poisoned."

As the Eevee cry got louder Camille felt like laughing at Zhenya's plight or was it more of Pikachu's plight? "I guess that means that I'm going to have an easier time then I thought. Alright Nidorina use poison sting." The attack continued to daze Pikachu who was then quickly disposed of with a double kick attack from Nidorina.

Returning her fainted Pikachu to its Pokeball Zhenya thought fast on which one to send out next. _I remember hearing Hector talking to Kalea on the phone about this girl being a little off so if she wants to play this kind of game then I'll send out something that she can't poison._ "Let's go Butterfree."

"Butterfree, the butterfly Pokemon. In battle, it flaps its wings at high speeds, releasing highly toxic dust into the air."

Camille thought having Nidorina use double kick on the Butterfree and just being done with it, but the idea was sounding a little farfetched. "Ok, Nidorina you did good." Deciding the send out another evolved Pokemon, Raticate took Nidorina's place.

Zhenya was glad for the opportunity to go first this time. "Butterfree, use confusion."She saw her opponent's Raticate get hit with a strange beam of light and began to sway about like it was trying to dance, but was probably a little intoxicated. "You poisoned my Pikachu so I'll return the favor by confusing your Raticate."

Watching Raticate sway Camille was feeling confused herself, but ordered an attack never the less. "Raticate, use quick attack."

Although Raticate attempted to obey it only succeeded in biting on its upper arm.

"Raticate, what's the matter? Why are you biting yourself?"

Zhenya gave a sigh of relief when she realized that her Butterfree's attack had, had the desired effect. "When Butterfree used confusion not only did it do damage, but also confused your Raticate and there's nothing you can do about it, but wait for it to wear off."

Starting to feel the frustration kick in Camille returned Raticate to its Pokeball before sending out Mankey who now with its anger issues seemed like a logical choice. "Come on Mankey let's take that Butterfree down! Use karate chop!" Watching Butterfree go down Camille saw that Zhenya was panicking and had Mankey attack again.

Returning her now fainted Butterfree to its Pokeball Zhenya took the towel off her hips and jumped back into the pool. "Ok Kalea, she beat me. It's your turn now."

Camille saw Kalea beckon for her to come to the back of the gym and when she got close enough to see the gym leader the only thing she could think of was that Kalea was….for the lack of a better word…hot.

Compared to Hector who had been wearing jeans, a blue hat, and yellow shirt and looked generally casual Kalea was a bit more dressed up. Her yellow top was long sleeved and showed her midriff, she wore white hot pants, yellow sandals with a little bit of a heel, and her long black hair was tied in probably hundreds of tiny braids.

Kalea looked down at Camille whose entire face had turned a light shade of pink. "What's the matter kid? You see something that's upsetting you?" When she saw Camille shake her head Kalea let out a high pitched laugh. "Hector was right you are kind of a weird kid." She covered her mouth with the back of her in the attempt to smother her giggles at the sight of Camille's scowl. "Don't take it so personally kid it's just a joke." Attempting to lighten the mood Kalea pulled out a Pokeball and gave a Camille a little smile. "You still want to battle or are you mad at me?"

"I still want to battle." Camille reached for her own Pokeball when the Eevee cry suddenly returned in a high pitched shriek. Lowering the Pokeball for a moment Camille felt her hands begin to shake. "Do you know if there are any trainers with Eevee around here?"

Taking a minute to think Kalea shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I'd like to have an Eevee myself to evolve it into a Vaporeon, but they're so rare I wouldn't even know where to start looking." Now noticing that Camille's face was a little flushed Kalea thought about calling off the battle. "Are you sure you're ready for this, kid? You don't look like you're doing too good."

"I'm fine. Let's battle I need to get the Cascade Badge."

Kalea gave her Pokeball a little toss revealing a small tadpole looking Pokemon with stubby feet. "You can take down a Pikachu and a Butterfree let's see if you can handle an actual water type."

"Poliwag, the tadpole Pokemon. Its newly grown legs prevent it from walking well. It appears to prefer swimming over walking."

Knowing for a fact that she couldn't win with Charmeleon, Camille instead sent out Nidorina.

Kalea had seen Nidorina in action and decided to keep her Poliwag from making physical contact with it. "Poliwag, use water gun!" A thin stream of water shot from the middle of the Poliwag's body and hit Nidorina in the face.

Camille found herself wishing that the water gun would have hit to her to help with how hot she'd started feeling. "Nidorina, use double kick!" To Camille's surprise the kicks bounced a little off of Poliwag's jelly like body.

A smirk grew on Kalea's lips at the confused look on Camille's face. "Let's take Nidorina out of the battle Poliwag use hypnosis!"

Nidorina heard a strange sound that only Pokemon could hear and began to sway on its feet before collapsing to the floor.

Grimacing in annoyance when her Nidorina fell asleep and returned it. "Let's get rid of Poliwag, Mankey."

Like the previous time Camille had sent out Mankey it looked angry and looked back at her to snarl.

"Mankey I'm really not in the mood for your attitude so take it out on Poliwag. Now, use karate chop." She looked relieved when Mankey's paw hit Poliwag right on top of its head. "Now Mankey use low kick!" After Mankey's foot hit Poliwag it whirled around on one of its feet for a minute before flopping down on its back.

Camille looked up to see that Kalea was looking a bit frustrated, but felt her heart rate increase when she saw the girl from the Pewter City gym standing behind Kalea. _What's she doing here? Did she follow me?_ The Eevee cry grew louder and higher pitched.

The girl behind Kalea opened her mouth and let out a garbled sounding cackle.

Kalea noticed that Camille's face was pale and her eyes wide and glassy. "Kid? You ok? I'm going to send out my Seel." She beckoned for the white seal Pokemon with the lolling tongue to come over and it waddled to her side.

Camille felt her dry lips turn upwards into a smile and she heard her Mankey beat its paws together in anticipation. "Mankey, use scratch." Her smile grew bigger at the sound of the Seel's squeal of pain. "Now use low kick."

Watching the Mankey furiously attack her Seel Kalea reached over into her discarded jacket on the beach chair and pulled out a small purple bottle that had a potion as its contents. She doused Seel with the potion and whistled through her teeth in relief when the bruises and scratch marks disappeared from its thick white body. "Seel, let's show this Mankey what we can do. Use head butt!"

Mankey was hit hard by Seel's head and flew back towards Camille landing on its face. Getting up from the gym floor Mankey looked even angrier then before and snarled loudly.

"Well why are you just laying there, Mankey? Use karate chop on that silly little Seel."

More than happy to oblige Mankey got up again and went running after Seel to begin pummeling it into the floor.

Kalea heard her Seel continue to squeal in pain and knew there wasn't any way she could win the battle since she'd only had the one potion. She heard her Seel give one last long howl before collapsing as it fainted although the Mankey kept right on pummeling it against the linoleum of the gym floor. Kalea saw Camille smiling and not looking like she was going to call her Mankey off and felt a lump rise in her throat. "Ok ok, you win now stop it!"

Instead of telling Mankey to stop attacking the fainted Seel, Camille returned it to its Pokeball; her face covered in a thin film of sweat. "Did I win?"

"Yah, yah you won." Kalea hadn't liked that smile Camille had been giving her and returned her Seel to its Pokeball. "Hang on a minute I'll get you the Cascade Badge." She walked back over to the beach chair and reached under it for a small packet of tissue which she unfolded, pulled out a small blue rain drop shaped badge, and handed it to Camille. "Are you alright? You're face is really red."

Pulling the little tin case from her bag and opened it before popping the Cascade Badge into its slot next to the Boulder Badge. "I'm fine…maybe a little dizzy, but I feel pretty alright." She took a step to leave the gym when a sudden wave of nausea hit her, she stumbled, and struggled not to fall into the pool. "Maybe I should…." She could see the girl trainer again who was now frowning at her.

Kalea took Camille by the arm and led her to beach chair. "Why don't you sit down for a minute." It sounded less like a question and more like an order.

Camille shook her head and pushed Kalea's hand away. "No thanks, I'm ok now. I think I'll go find a place to stay for the night." It was a lie since Camille had been planning on just walking through the night to get to Vermilion City. "Don't worry about me." Although her face was still flushed and her hands had a tremor to them Camille had her usually smile back.


	7. Chapter 7

[A/N: I am aware that these chapters end in strange places, but as I explained before when I wrote this story I didn't do chapters for some weird reason. Anyway please enjoy chapter 7. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. All reviews are appreciated.]

As Camille left the Cerulean City gym and walked towards the path that led to the underground path that would take someone to Vermilion City another sudden wave of nausea washed over her. _Ignore it. You're fine so just keep going until you get to Vermilion City._

"What are you doing so late at night?"

Camille jumped when she heard the familiar voice of Cesare. "What are you doing in Cerulean City?" She felt her knees begin to knock and her palms grow sweaty. "I don't need any help getting to Vermilion City the underground path is just a straight path there's no way to get lost."

Cesare walked over to Camille, leaned down, and saw that her face was bright red and her eyes were glassy. "Are you feeling alright? You look like you're coming down with something."

"That's funny. Kalea said the same thing, but I'm alright." Camille attempted to walk off again when she swayed from side to side for a minute before stumbling forward.

Cesare took Camille by the shoulders to pull her upright and put the back of his hand to her forehead. "You're burning up." He heard her stomach growl loudly and pushed her bangs from her forehead. "When was the last time you ate or drank anything?"

"Yesterday morning…no I think the a couple days ago." She saw Cesare raise an eyebrow in surprise and grumbled back. "I've been busying trying to get ready to go and I guess it just slipped my mind, but I'm ok. I'll get something to eat when I get to Vermilion City."

"When was the last time you slept?" He saw her role her eyes in annoyance. "Don't give me an attitude just tell when was the last time you got any sleep."

"Maybe three days ago. Like I said I've been busy getting ready to start my journey." Camille squeaked when she felt Cesare pull her back towards Cerulean City. "What are you doing I need to get to Vermilion City I'm done here."

Cesare tightened his grip on Camille's arm and began to walk her towards a small inn. "You're not going to Vermilion City tonight. You need to sleep and get some food and water in your system before you go anywhere else." Ignoring Camille's protests Cesare walked her up to the service counter and rung the bell.

A portly old woman with her grey hair in a bun waddled out from a back room. "What can I do for you young man? Do you need a room?"

Cesare gave the old lady a warm smile and patted Camille on the head. "Actually, I don't need a room, but this young lady needs one for the night." He pushed Camille's hat back and ruffled her hair affectionately. "I found her almost passed out on her way to the underground path."

The old woman beamed down at Camille and clicked her tongue. "Well young lady, you should feel lucky that a knight in shining armor was there to rescue you. I hate to think of what could have happened to a little girl by herself at night time."

Noticing the annoyed look on Camille's face Cesare readjusted her hat. "After I get her settled I'm going to go get her something to eat so I'll be back shortly."

Camille watched Cesare leave the inn and went with the old lady who was still giddy about seeing an attractive young man in her inn. She watched the old woman show her how to work the bath tub and lights before handing her a key and bidding good night. She turned the water on the bath as hot as it could get and took a long leisurely shower before putting on an over sized dark blue t-shirt and form fitting black shorts and flopping down on the bed with her hair still wet. She heard a knock at the door and rolled over so that her face wasn't in the pillow anymore. "Come in."

"I can't the doors locked."

Getting up from the bed Camille walked over to the door and pulled it open to let Cesare and some delicious smelling food into the room. Watching him set a bowl of steamed rice and vegetables that was topped with some kind of fried meat down on a small table in the room it took every fiber of Camille's self control not to start gorging on the food. The large bottle of water he pulled from the bag took her attention away from the food and she grabbed it, ripped the plastic strip off around the lid, and began to drink from it. Noticing that Cesare was staring at her Camille put the bottle down and wiped the excess water from her lips. "Sorry about that."

Cesare shrugged and sat down in a chair at the table. "Just as I thought. You needed some food, water, and rest that's why you were acting so strange. Why don't you-"

"Did you see a girl that was all white anywhere around the gym?"

"A girl that was all in white around the gym? No, I don't think I did. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Setting the bottle down Camille pulled a plastic spoon from the bag and began to shovel the rice, vegetables, and meat into her mouth. Finishing her dinner Camille went to put her garbage back in the bag when she saw a slice of chocolate cake and quickly grabbed it out of the bag. "You got me a piece of cake?"

"I got you a piece of cake." Cesare noticed that a bit of rice was stuck to Camille's face near her lip and picked up a napkin. "You got something on your face."

Camille felt her face heat up as Cesare wiped the rice from her face and reached for the cake when she heard a buzz from her Pokedex. Picking up her Pokedex Camille saw a message from Lucian.

"Who sent you a message?"

Putting the Pokedex into her bag so that she wouldn't hear it again Camille shook her head. "It's nobody."

At the entrance to the underground path Lucian was waiting. He'd hoped that Camille would walk with him before he went through the underground path to cut through Saffron City to get to Vermilion City. He'd tried to go through an above ground tunnel, but a guard had stopped him. Sitting down near the entrance to the path Lucian opened his Pokedex again and sent her another message.

It had only taken Camille a few minutes to devour the piece of cake and finish off the water before she sighed heavily and sagged in the chair. "I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was." Camille could feel her eyes growing heavy and yawned. "Or how tired I am now." Getting up from the chair and stretching like a Meowth, Camille yawned before walking over the bed. "I hope I'm not being a bad hostess, but I really need to get some sleep."

Cesare shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Get some rest. I'll go now." He waited until Camille got into bed before walking out of the room. As he walked down the hall he heard a rough throaty sounding chuckle. Glancing back he saw the plump old woman who ran the inn. "What do you want old lady?"

The old woman chuckled again and took a tottering step towards Cesare. "I remember you young man. Last time I saw you Cesare, you were a little scamp of a boy who was crying with a bloody knee after he fell on the concrete."

"Do I know you?"

The old woman laughed again before starting to cough into her shawl. "I wouldn't expect you to remember me, Cesare, but you do work for my grandson now."

Looking at the old lady a little bit longer Cesare suddenly remembered hearing that Boss Serpico's grandmother now ran an inn in Cerulean City. "How is an old hag like you still alive?"

"Annual trips to Verdanturf Town in Hoenn that's how, boy." She glanced back at Camille's room. "Can I trust that you tucked your little princess in?"

Cesare bristled at the infliction in the old woman's voice. "I made sure she was in bed when I left, but I did not tuck her in." He began to walk down the hall again to leave the inn when he heard the old woman call out to him again.

"Cesare, the only mistake you could make as the prince of this plot is to mistake your princess for another woman you once loved." She saw him bristle again and clench his fists. "If this plan fails because of you there will be hell to pay. For you anyway." She shuffled in the opposite direction probably to go to her own bed. "Oh, my grandson called for you. He wishes to see you in Viridian City at the usual spot where you two meet."

Hearing that the boss wanted to meet him made Cesare feel a little nervous although he couldn't think of anything that he'd done wrong.

"You can borrow my Pidgeot, Cesare." The old woman looked back at Cesare to see that he was looking confused. "You don't have any flying Pokemon do you?"


	8. Chapter 8

[A/N: Here's chapter 8. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. All reviews are appreciated.]

Using the old Pidgeot to fly to Viridian City, Cesare defiantly saw the similarity between the old Pokemon and the old woman. Both used to have golden-red hair or feathers, but both had faded into grey and both were cranky when woken up too early. Sliding off the Pidgeot and returning it to its Pokeball, Cesare opened the door to headquarters and walked towards the office that the boss had. Taking a minute to catch his breath Cesare knocked on the door.

Rufino had actually been on the phone with Clio when Cesare arrived. "All I want to do is taking you shopping in Celadon City I hear there's a great new department store over there." He heard her snap back that she was busy with researching something that the Professor in Johto had sent her. "Next time then?" Rufino heard another knock at the door and tightened his grip on the phone. "Alright so probably not next time either." Another knock. "Clio, you would excuse me I think I hear a Spearow rapping at my chamber door." Rufino hung the phone up and walked over to the door. "Oh, Cesare I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Did I disturb you from your work, sir?"

"Work….I guess you could call it that. Anyway have a seat Cesare."

Feeling a bit nervous Cesare sat in a chair opposite Rufino and licked his lips. "You wanted to speak with me, boss?"

Rufino chuckled warmly and readjusted his now gold tie as he leaned back in his chair. "There's no need to look so worried Cesare I just wanted to see how things are progressing on your part with dealing with our little problem."

Cesare breathed a quick sigh of relief. "She completely trusts me, sir." He found his gaze lingering the framed picture of a woman on the boss's desk when he noticed that the boss was staring at him stare at the picture.

Rufino glanced between Cesare and the picture of the woman. "Did you ever meet my Mirabella, Cesare?"

Cesare had met Mirabella once before although the memory was hazy.

_Nineteen years earlier Cesare had been four years old. He had been playing outside his house in Viridian City when he'd fallen and hit his knee on a rock. He'd been sitting there crying when a woman had come over to him and leaned down. _

_ The woman had skin the color of cocoa ,long rich brown hair pinned up in a bun, and her stomach was quiet large. "Are you alright, little boy?"_

_ Cesare looked up from his hands at her and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. "I slipped and hit and my knee and it hurts." He heard the woman cluck her tongue in sympathy and reached into a satchel for a tissue and a box of band-aids. _

_ "What's your name little boy?" She'd asked as she dabbed the blood away with the tissue and applied the band-aid._

_ Sniffing at the pain in his knee Cesare wiped the more persistent tears from his cheeks. "My name's Cesare. What's yours?" _

_ The woman had to put her hand down on the sidewalk to keep herself from tipping over. "My name is Mirabella." _

_ "Why's your tummy so big?" _

_ Mirabella had giggled at Cesare's question and decided it would be better for her to just sit down on the concrete next to him to keep from falling over. "I'm going to have a baby that's why my tummy is so big." _

_ Cesare had been about to respond when he saw the future boss of Team Rocket walk out of their headquarters in Viridian City looking quiet angry. _

_ At the time Rufino Serpico had been a younger man with a clean shaven face and no desire to take over Team Rocket upon his Father's death. "Come on Mirabella. We're leaving." _

_ Mirabella struggled to her feet and began to walk after Rufino before waving good-bye to Cesare. _

At the time Cesare hadn't known that Mirabella was pregnant with Rufino's child or that Rufino's Father an irritable old man with slicked back grey hair who was always smoking a cigar didn't want his son marrying 'some no-body girl from Viridian City'. Oh, yes if Old Man Serpico could have had his way he would have had his son marry the daughter of the head of the Silph Company in Saffron City.

"I think I met her once yes."

Rufino moved the picture from his desk and put in a drawer. "Well, I guess we don't really to talk about Mirabella. Sad subject that doesn't need to be discussed."

Cesare saw the corner of Rufino's mouth twitch. "Sir, I've been thinking. Is it really necessary for me to keep my eye on that girl? She doesn't seem to be much of a threat."

"Evren didn't seem like much a threat either." Rufino saw Cesare's lip twitch and crossed his arms over his chest. "Remember? I remember that you fell for her and remember what she did to us?"

Feeling his hands ball up into fists Cesare would have liked to have a comeback, but got a little distracted when he saw a girl with olive skin peering into the room.

Liviana was Rufino's teenage daughter who had brought about Mirabella's death nineteen years before. In her arms was a Raticate. She glared at Cesare and Boss Serpico before disappearing into one of the one of the many rooms.

"You may go now Cesare."

The next morning Camille woke up to hear the inn keeper knocking on the door to her room. Opening the door she was presented with a hot breakfast of oatmeal, fresh fruits, and a tall glass of milk. Eating her breakfast by herself Camille pulled out a map of Kanto she traced a route through Saffron City via the underground path to Vermilion City.

She walked out to the front of the inn to say good-bye to the inn keeper, but didn't see her. Camille walked through Cerulean City towards the underground path, but Lucian had already left for Vermilion City. She didn't spend too much time in Saffron City, but did take note of the gym and the giant Silph Company headquarters building. Although she was close to the entrance to Vermilion City, Camille stopped at the entrance to the Saffron City gym to read the sign outside. "Elizabeta, the psychic sage." _I'll have to remember that she uses psychic types. _

Walking through a gate armed with a single guard Camille entered the port city of Vermilion. She saw that the gym was near the water and dashed over to it, but found that she was unable to enter it because a small tree was blocking the only entrance. Standing up on her tiptoes Camille quickly found that there wasn't a way for her to climb over the tree due to the fence and the ocean making it far more treacherous then just simply climbing a tree. "How am I supposed to get into the gym? How is anyone supposed to get into the gym?"

"Don't you have anything sharp?"

Camille jumped when she heard Cesare behind her. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Come out of nowhere like that." Camille was a little surprised of course, but not at all disappointed to see Cesare and smiled back at him. "Where did you stay last night if you didn't stay at the inn?"

Cesare only smiled sweetly at Camille and ruffled her affectionately messing up her hat. "I stayed with a friend last night."

Blushing under Cesare's hand Camille fixed her hat again. "So, what did you mean by something sharp?"

"You know. Something like a knife."

Camille thought for a moment in silence. "I don't have a knife or anything sharp for that matter."

Cesare took Camille by the hand and led her over to the pier and pointed at the cruise ship. "The captain of that cruise ship should have a knife that he can give you." He let go of Camille's hand and began to walk back towards the border with Cerulean City.

"Wait, aren't you going to come with me?"

"I have some other things I need to do."

Camille watched Cesare walk away, but felt elated when he stopped walking away and came back to her. "Are you going to go with me?"

Cesare noticed that Camille looked a little too happy and forced back his own feelings of disgust. "I forgot to get on the ship you need to have a ticket." Reaching into his pocket he fished out a ticket with the words _**SS ANNE**_ printed on it. "You can have my ticket." Seeing the perplexed look on Camille's face Cesare rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly. "I was going to go…today actually, but then I got a call from my folks that they needed me today so I can't go and the ship will be leaving for Johto soon."

Accepting the ticket Camille was going to thank Cesare, but saw that he was already walking back towards the border with Cerulean City.


	9. Chapter 9

[A/N: This is another short chapter, but it was fun to have George and Kelly appear again. There is a bit of a story behind how they got their names, but that's for another time. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. All reviews are appreciated.]

Boarding the cruise ship Camille saw that several trainers were also on board. _I could probably battle them to get my Pokemon stronger before I battle the gym leader._ As she wandered around the SS Anne, Camille was severally disappointed in the lack of trainers that wanted to battle and only found one girl several years older than her to battle. The girl had, had a party consisting of Pikachu, Raichu, Wigglytuff, Magnemite, Magneton, and Drowzee. Camille had asked the girl where she'd gotten her Drowzee and had been told she could find them on Route 11 outside of Vermilion City on the way to Lavender Town. Camille was getting ready to leave the girl's cabin when she suddenly remembered why she was on the cruise ship in the first place.

"Do you know where the captain is?"

The girl was quiet in thought for a moment and wove her fingers through her long silvery hair. "He should be up in his cabin. Normally he is around the ship, but he gets seasick really bad so he's' not been around lately." She giggled. "Odd isn't it? For the captain of a cruise ship to get seasick?"

Camille joined the girl in a laugh before leaving her cabin to go search for the captain's. As she approached a flight of stairs that would go up to the captain's cabin she saw a familiar red haired somebody coming down the stairs. "Oh, great what are you doing here?"

Lucian had been on the SS Anne for the same reason as Camille to get a knife from the captain in order to gain access to the Vermilion City gym. He glared at Camille and was still feeling the sting of rejection from the previous night when she'd not answered his messages. "Why didn't you answer me last night?"

"Why did you want to talk to me so badly?"

"What's wrong with wanting to talk to someone that you think would be a good friend?"

Camille noticed that Lucian's face a little pinker then it usually was and cocked her head to the side. "Since when have you wanted to be my friend?"

Biting his tongue when he realized what a stupid thing he'd just said Lucian reached into his bag for a Pokeball. "Forget I said that. I actually just wanted to battle you." He tossed the Pokeball to reveal a Pokemon that looked sort of like Abra, but bigger, with a tail, and holding a spoon. "Just so you know unlike Abra, Kadabra can actually do something."

"Kadabra, the Psi Pokemon. It emits special alpha waves from its body that induce headaches just by being close to it."

Since it didn't look like she had a choice in the battle Camille took her own Pokeball from her bag. "Fine I'll battle you again, but I have two requests for you." She saw Lucian raise one of his red eyebrows in suspicion. "If I win let me go see the captain and then leave me alone." Camille sent out her Nidorina.

"Fine, but I don't think you can beat me this time. Kadabra, use confusion."

Nidorina did a quick little side step to dodge the attack and ended up dancing on its hind legs.

Giggling at the little show that Nidorina was putting on Camille was amused to see to see how confused Lucian was looking. "Nidorina, use double kick."

Lucian was now beginning to question himself on why he'd caught Abra in the first place if all it could do was confusion and teleport. "Come on Kadabra use confusion again."

The battle between Nidorina and Kadabra didn't last too much longer.

Returning Kadabra to its Pokeball Lucian thought that maybe after getting off the cruise ship he should release it. "Ok, so Kadabra didn't work let's try Nidorino."

Camille was about to return Nidorina when she heard something behind her. Glancing back from the corner of her eye she saw George and Kelly creeping out of one of the cabins. "What are you two doing on a cruise ship? Stealing something else?"

Kelly grimaced when she realized that they'd been caught and looked over at George with a look that said. _He told us she wouldn't be this far._

George looked back at her as if to say. _He tells us a lot of things most of which aren't true in case you haven't noticed._

Kelly turned back to face Camille and Lucian when a new idea came to her. "Come on George let's take out these little brats in the name of Team Rocket. Now, go Arbok."

George reached for his own belt to pull off a Pokeball. "Onix, help out Arbok."

Camille reached into her backpack for a revive and a super potion which she handed off to Lucian. "Use these to revive your Kadabra."

Lucian took the revive and super potion and healed his Kadabra before he looked back at George and Kelly. "Who are you two?"

Kelly chuckled under her breath as her Arbok hissed threateningly next to her. "We are administrators George and Kelly of Team Rocket. Prepare yourselves to be blown away."

Camille reached for the Pokeball that had her Charmeleon in it and sent out the fire lizard Pokemon. She looked over Lucian who looked like he was going to turn tail and suddenly felt very angry with him. "What are you doing? Are you just going to run away and leave me here to battle two? Don't you dare act like a coward and leave me here!"

Lucian returned his Kadabra and instead sent out a larger purple version of Squirtle.

"Wartrotle, the turtle Pokemon. Often hides in water to stalk unwary prey. For moving fast, it moves it moves its ears to maintain balance."

Camille felt a little burned at seeing what was supposed to be her starter Pokemon already evolved into its second form. "I don't know what you two are doing here, but you better leave or we'll make you leave."

Kelly chortled at hearing Camille's comment. "Oh, aren't you a brave little girl trying to make the big scary Team Rocket members go away. Arbok, use bite."

Arbok lunged at Lucian's Wartrotle who jumped out of the way and as it rebounded retaliated with a bite attack of its own. The Arbok screeched in pain and wrapped its purple coils around Wartrotle as it began to squeeze.

Although Camille really didn't like Lucian she didn't like seeing his Wartrotle in pain and he didn't seem to know what to do. "Charmeleon, use rage."

Charmeleon sprung up in a fit of anger and began to claw and bite violently at the Arbok when Onix swung its tail in its direction. Looking in Onix's direction Charmeleon was still angry and began to breath fire and scratch Onix.

George had never been a fan of fire type Pokemon and watching a Charmeleon attack his beloved Onix was getting him ever so slightly annoyed. "Onix, get rid of that lizard with rock throw."

Noticing that the Arbok's grip on Wartrotle had loosened and that Charmeleon was now in trouble Lucian didn't want to help, but got the feeling that if he did nothing and they lost the battle that something bad was going to happen. "Wartrotle, use rapid spin." He was to order Wartrotle to use bubble on the Onix when he heard a noise from the captain's cabin.

Coming down the stairs from the captain's cabin was the captain himself. He was younger than expected with long silvery white hair in a low ponytail and at the moment he was looking very angry. Slithering and crawling about near his feet was a strange blue squid with a spiked shell and a gaping fanged mouth.

"Omastar, the spiral Pokemon. A prehistoric Pokemon that died out when its heavy shell made it impossible to catch prey."

The captain was glaring at George and Kelly and crooked his finger at the Omastar. "Omastar, clean up the cruise ship for me."

The Omastar began to slither after George and Kelly whipping at their heels with its spiked blue tentacles sending them yelping towards an exit.

The captain and Camille started laughing when Kelly began shouting back insults and neither of them noticed Lucian slink away. The captain was finally able to get a hold of himself and took notice of Camille. "So, kid you really here for a cruise or is there something else that you want?"

"Actually, I was trying to get to the Vermilion City gym, but there's a tree in the way and a friend told me that you have a knife I could use." She suddenly felt very stupid after realizing that Lucian had just been there. "I guess I could have asked Lucian to use his knife."

The captain reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small knife. "That should do the trick." When Camille reached for it the captain held it out of her reach. "I have one request for you."

"What's that?"

"If you ever come back to the SS Anne make sure you don't bring your hooligan friends with you. I don't mind my passengers having a battle during the cruise, but they know to keep the activity to a minimum. Can you promise me that?"

"None of them were my friends…" Camille remembered that Lucian had said that he actually wanted to be her friend, but brushed it off. "I'll make sure they don't come back don't worry about it."

Handing Camille the knife the captain saw his Omastar coming back. "Well, looks like Omastar got rid of those two and I'm feeling better so that means the cruise can get started. In case you're wondering if you want to ride the SS Anne again we'll be in Sinnoh for some time and will be back next year."


	10. Chapter 10

[A/N: Sorry about the slow updates on this. I'm trying to concentrate more on my Kingdom Hearts story. Anyway as usual Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. All reviews are appreciated.]

Shortly after she got off the cruise ship Camille saw it sail off for the distant region of Sinnoh. _Now that I can get into the Vermilion City gym I'll be able to get the thunder badge._ Crouching down at the base of the tree Camille began to saw away at the surprisingly thick trunk. After sitting there for several minutes the tree collapsed, rolled off the little inlet the gym was built on, and fell into the sea. _I hope that isn't going to make anyone angry. _As she walked towards the entrance of the gym she saw the standard little sign posted by the door. "Ferdinand, the electrifying Pokemon trainer."

Unlike Hector's and Kalea's gyms the Vermilion City gym was quiet plain and Ferdinand was physically blocked off by two currents of electricity. Walking around the gym floor Camille several buckets in three neat rows and walked over to one to peer inside, but saw that it was empty. "What's the point of this? How am I supposed to get to Ferdinand?" She felt someone tap her shoulder and half expected to see Cesare, but only saw a woman with long blond hair and blue eyes smiling cheekily at her. "Are you this gym's trainer?"

"Yes, I am." The woman already had three Pokemon out of their Pokeballs. A Butterfree flew about near her head and a Vulpix and Pontya pranced about behind her.

"Vulpix, the fox Pokemon. At the time of birth, it has just one tail. The tail splits from its tip as it grows older."

The woman saw that Camille was staring at the electric barriers and sighed half heartily. "In case you're wondering Ferdinand is extremely paranoid so that's why there are barriers."

Camille looked between the barriers and the buckets for a couple of minutes before looking back at the woman. "Do you know how to get the barriers down?"

"I'll tell you once you beat me and unlike those trainers from Pewter City and Cerulean City I'm allowed to have three Pokemon." She gestured for the Butterfree to come in front of her. "Have you ever battled a Butterfree before?"

"Actually I have." Camille saw the angry look on the woman's face and sighed. "What? All I said is that I've battled a Butterfree before." She saw the woman return the Butterfree before ending out what looked like a larger version of Seel with a protruding horn.

"Dewgong, the sea lion Pokemon. Stores thermal in energy in its body. Swims at a steady 8 knots even in intensely cold waters."

The woman had a look of gratification on her face when she realized that Camille didn't recognize Dewgong. "Have you ever battled a Dewgong before?"

"I've seen one, but I've never battled one, but I think-"

"Don't keep switching out your Pokemon Garnet." The speaker was a man with blond hair in his mid twenties wearing a long green jacket, a white shirt, and brown pants. "Just pick a Pokemon and battle the kid." Ferdinand was about to go back to his seat in the back of the gym when he remembered something. "Oh, and Garnet you might want to tone it down on your losing streak. It's not supposed to be that easy to get to me."

Throughout the battle Garnet used her Dewgong, Vulpix, and Ponyta, but proved that she ultimately was not the best at battling Pokemon since they were all taken out with Camille's Mankey.

The Mankey was still breathing hard after it took down the Ponyta when it began to glow. Its arms and legs got longer and thicker and its fur also grew thicker. All in all it looked pretty similar if not a little angrier.

"Primeape, the pig monkey Pokemon. Always furious and tenacious to boot. It will not abandon chasing its quarry until it is caught."

Camille returned her newly evolved Primeape to its Pokeball before turning back to Garnet. "I beat you so tell me how to turn the barriers off so I can battle the leader."

Garnet was looking rather furious with herself a look that reminded Camille of Primeape and caused her to giggle. "Well, aren't you just a snotty little brat laughing at someone after they've lost a battle and probably their job." She tucked the Pokeballs into her purse and began to walk out when Ferdinand called out to her.

"Garnet, I'll give you one more chance on the condition that you show the kid how to turn off the barriers."

Once again Garnet looked like she could yell in frustration and turned a couple different times on her heeled slippers. "Ok, fine. Come here kid." She seized Camille by the arm and pulled her over to one of the buckets.

"You see the insides of these buckets?" Garnet gestured to the garbage killed bucket. "If you get through all the garbage you will find two switches into different buckets and those will unlock the barriers, but I'm warning you Ferdinand will zap you right back to the entrance."

Camille watched Garnet saunter away to leave the gym and heal her Pokemon. _So, I'm going to be digging through garbage to find switches to unlock the barriers. _Reaching into the second bucket Camille almost fell into it in the effort to dig through it, but found no switch.

After another ten minutes of digging through buckets Camille was no closer to finding either of the switches and had to pull herself out of another bucket. Pulling a piece of paper form her hair Camille was hanging off the lip of the bucket when she saw Lucian chuckling at her from outside the gym. Flinging herself off the bucket she dashed back to the entrance and left the gym to glare at Lucian. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd already beaten Ferdinand. Why are you still here go away!"

Lucian found that he was enjoying Camille's flustered face way too much and stayed where he was on the other side of the inlet. "I just thought I'd like to watch you get beaten." He saw Camille's cheeks get red and started laughing a little louder. "Maybe you can't get beaten with rocks. Maybe you can't get soaked with water, but maybe just maybe I think you can get shocked."

Camille was about to run around the inlet the wrong way when she noticed that the tree had suddenly grown back. Instead she went off to the far end of the island the gym was on and started running to try and jump across the small band of water between her and Lucian. Camille had been an athletic kid for as long as she could remember, but her foot slipped on the damp earth and she fell into the water with a loud splash. Thrashing to get herself afloat again Camille saw that Lucian was no longer laughing, but was actually looking a bit worried.

It had been funny when Camille had been yelling at him from the inlet, but Lucian hadn't actually expected for her to try and jump across. Without thinking he stripped off his jacket and backpack and jumped into the sea after her. Even with Camille protesting to him grabbing her Lucian got her around the waist and began to haul her towards the shore that he'd been on. As he grabbed onto the shore Lucian felt Camille's chest rub against his and found himself thinking that she was a bit softer then he'd expected.

Camille felt Lucian throw her back onto the bank and began to cough and sputter hard to clear the water from her lungs. Looking over at Lucian she saw him take his shirt off to ring it out and felt her face turn ten different shades of red. "What are you doing put your shirt back on!"

Lucian put his shirt in his lap for a minute to wring out his longish red hair and as he did so flexed a bit showing Camille the faint outline of abs. "I got wet I need to wring my shirt out. In fact I think I should just go find some place to change out of these wet clothes."

Following Lucian's example she pulled off her wet hat and sweater to wring them out. Under her sweater she wore a black tank top that stuck to her thin body. "Thanks for saving me…"

Shrugging Lucian turned his back to shake his shirt out and pick up his jacket and backpack. "I wasn't going to leave you there." He started to walk away. "Now, I'm leaving."

Camille was going to go after him when she saw Garnet coming towards them.

Garnet watched Lucian walk away; her gaze lingering after him before she went over to Camille. "Who's that? Your boyfriend?"

Camille felt her cheeks flush again. "Not even close." She leaned back when Garnet leaned closer to her to whisper something.

"If I were you I'd get a little of that while I still have a chance." Garnet saw Lucian's ears turn bright red and laughed loudly. "Hey boy, be glad I'm not a couple years younger I think I'd have to kidnap you." She turned back to Camille who was also bright red. "Don't look so embarrassed over something like that and don't tell me you haven't had the same thoughts." Garnet only continued to laugh when Camille's lips pressed together in a tight line and she buried her face in her damp sweater. "You can use my drier if you want to. It's not a good idea to run around in wet clothes. Could catch a cold."

Allowing Garnet to take her by the arm Camille felt her gaze lingering after Lucian who was still negotiating a bit of water out of his shirt.

Fifteen minutes later Camille had dressed herself in a pair of black biker shorts and a dark blue tee shirt while her usual clothes dried. Cutting though the tree didn't take as long this time and since she no longer had to battle Garnet it wouldn't take as long to get to Ferdinand.

Once again she was digging through garbage filled buckets and in the last bucket of the second row she found the first switch. The second switch was in the middle of the third row. Camille heard the electric barriers switch off, but didn't hear Ferdinand coming towards her. _I guess he really is paranoid._ Walking towards the back of the gym Camille saw that he had actually fallen asleep. Behind him was the golden Thunder Badge glittering in the synthetic light of the gym. _I could just take it. Take it and be done here._ She reached out her hand to take the badge when her wrist was caught in an iron pincer like grip.

"Didn't your Mother ever tell you not to take what doesn't belong to you?" Ferdinand had become good had feigning sleep over the years and had caught several trainers trying to pull the same stunt as Camille. "Remember the rules, kid. You battle me, you beat me, and then I will give you the Thunder Badge." He reached for a Pokeball that was behind him. "Are you ready for a battle or do you want to go swimming again?"

Camille would have preferred it if the gym leader hadn't seen her take an unexpected dip. "I didn't plan on going swimming the first time." She pulled out a Pokeball of her own. "To answer your question. Yes, I am ready to battle you."

"I'm going to assume you've never battled an electric type Pokemon before so I'll go easy on you for my first Pokemon. Let's see what you can do about a Pikachu." Unknown to Ferdinand, Camille actually had battled a Pikachu at the Celadon City gym and he looked a bit surprised when she didn't look surprised.

"I have battled a Pikachu before. My question to use is: have you ever battled a Charmeleon?"

Ferdinand didn't really like fire type Pokemon had a traumatic episode in his childhood involving a group of neighborhood kids thinking it would funny to pin him down and burn his finger tips with their Growlithe. "No, can't say I have." Shaking off the disgust towards the fire type Pokemon Ferdinand turned his attention to his Pikachu. "Pikachu, use thunder bolt."

For maybe the first time Charmeleon wasn't able to dodge the attack and instead was hit with a bolt of lightning.

Camille was beginning to hear the familiar Eevee cry again and was struggling not to plug her ears and tried to keep herself focused on the battle. "Charmeleon, use ember." She saw the attack hit Pikachu giving it some minor burns, but the sight of the girl trainer in white behind Ferdinand was setting her on edge.

The girl's appearance had changed ever so slightly. At the Pewter and Cerulean gym she had been smiling, but her head had been down. Now she was frowning and her head was up. Next to her was an Eevee with drooped ears. She opened her mouth to say something, but there was only an Eevee cry that left her lips.

Camille was shocked back to reality when she heard her Pokedex speaking without her using it.

"Eevee, the evolution Pokemon. Its genetic code is irregular. It may mutate if it is exposed to radiation from elemental stones."

Putting the Pokedex back into her bag Camille realized that she must have done something because Ferdinand's Pikachu had fainted and had been replaced by his Raichu. Once again she heard the Pokedex activate itself.

"Raichu, the mouse Pokemon. Its long tail serves as a ground to protect itself from its own high voltage power."

Ferdinand was already starting to feel a bit exasperated and felt his paranoia beginning to kick in again. He never had liked being a gym leader. It made him feel over exposed. "Raichu, use double team." Even though Ferdinand could tell which one was actually his Raichu from the many copies that were being created at extremely high speeds he could tell neither Camille nor Charmeleon could. "Getting frustrated? Maybe you want to leave."

Camille only stood there watching Raichu shoot back in forth creating copies of itself. "No, I'm alright just trying to figure out which Raichu is the real one." Zeroing in on what she thought was the real Raichu a few seconds later Camille decided to blow it away the way Pikachu had been. "Charmeleon, use rage."

Charmeleon lunged forward to begin scratching and biting at Raichu, but only fell through a copy and its chin on the floor. Getting up again Charmeleon attempted to do the same thing, but once again fell on its face.

After watching Charmeleon struggle to hit Raichu, Camille simply returned it to its Pokeball and thought a minute to figure out who else in her party had good accuracy. "When all else fails let's use Primeape."

Primeape was snarling before it got out of its Pokeball and without waiting for any kind of order it lunged at Raichu and began to use fury swipes with its talon like claws.

For some reason lately Camille was enjoying watching Primeape beat another Pokemon to a pulp. She's liked it when it had happened to Kalea's Seel and she liked it now when it was happening to Ferdinand's Raichu. Then again it wasn't like if she asked it to that Primeape would actually stop. "Primeape, les just get this done. Use karate chop."

Primeape sprung off of Raichu only to swing one of its hard paws down onto its head with a sickening crack.

Ferdinand returned his fainted Raichu and had to think for a minute on how to deal with the enraged Primeape. He reached behind him for a last Pokemon and sent out what looked like a spiked yellow and white fox with black eyes.

"Jolteon, the lightening Pokemon. It accumulates negative ions in the atmosphere to blast out 1000-volt lightning bolts."

Camille knew from her sister that Jolteon was the electric form Eevee and that there were two others that specialized in fire and water. She saw the girl in white with her Eevee standing behind Ferdinand and saw that the smile had returned to her lips.

"Jolteon, use thunder shock." Ferdinand saw the Primeape fly up towards the ceiling before it crashed back to the floor. Jolteon twitched its nose when it realized that Primeape was getting up again. It growled and let a few stray sparks of electricity fly from its fur in fear when Primeape pumped its first at it.

"Primeape, use fury swipes."

Primeape sprung up and began to attack Jolteon like it had done Raichu, but this time was getting shocked very badly in the process.

Ferdinand watched Camille look utterly unaffected by what was happening and thought that perhaps there was something to what Kalea had told him the day before. _It looks like she doesn't even care what happens to her Pokemon. She may look nicer, but she's probably worse than that red haired boy that was here earlier. _The sharp pained screech of his Jolteon brought Ferdinand back to the battle. He saw Jolteon fling Primeape off of its back and bare its fangs at the pig monkey Pokemon. "God job Jolteon now use thunder bolt."

Upon being hit by the thunder bolt attack Primeape got even angrier if that was possible and lunged at Jolteon again for a karate chop attack.

Ferdinand hadn't seen Camille's lips move and was confused on how she was ordering her Pokemon to do anything. He could see that her eyes were glazed over and sweat covered her face. _Is she somehow communicating with it telepathically? The only person I know of that can do that is Elizabeta and that's only because she's developed such a close bond with her psychic Pokemon. _The next thing Ferdinand saw was the Primeape standing in front of him with its paw out; behind it was Ferdinand's passed out Jolteon. "Well done, kid for beating me so quickly." He was relieved to see the life return to her eyes before walking back to get the Thunder Badge.

Feeling the cool metal of the Thunder Badge fall into her hand Camille pulled the little tin case from her backpack and pop into place next to the Cascade Badge. Leaning down to Primeape's level Camille put her hand out in a high five. "Good job Primeape. I don't think I could have-" She was cut off when Primeape's fist collided with her cheek. "Well, I was going to let you sleep on the bed with me, but guess who's sleeping in their Pokeball?" Watching Primeape huff in anger she returned it to its Pokeball. Without another word Camille turned and left the Vermilion City gym.

Ferdinand felt his blood run cold when he heard a high pitched Eevee cry.


End file.
